Category Archives: Out and about

Peterborough via the Northwest

I’m currently sitting in my most favourite pub in Peterborough. With a delicious pint of Sam Smith’s extra stout. We’re going to our favourite curry house next.

Food’s needed more thought since I started the vegan thing. But Manchester and Liverpool made life pretty easy. The Thirsty Scholar, on Oxford Road, near the O2 Academy is a great bar, with a brilliant vegan menu.

It’s brilliant because it’s all vegan. There’re veggie options, but the main offerings are vegan. It’s pub food, but like the chef (a great bloke called Andy) says it’s not healthy, but it’s not as unhealthy.

The food was really nice though.

Andy (I hope that’s his name) told us about a place in Liverpool, the Egg Cafe, for which I’ll be eternally grateful. It’s a lovely place with gorgeous food.

It’s great to know I’ve a couple of cool places to eat in a couple of my favourite cities.

Happy new stuff

The high level bridge was a pretty cool place to be a few minutes ago. Currently in the Bridge Hotel, enjoying a pint of erdinger.

The evening may not have been as special as last year (Local Authority spending constraints had an impact I imagine), but it was still good.

Time for a cab I think.

Fourth plinth

I’ve passed by a few times recently, but today wasn’t rushed, so I stopped to take a picture. The fourth plinth, Trafalgar Square.

Young love

This evening, on the high level bridge.

Tyne

Walking under the Tyne bridge this afternoon. I’d forgotten how nice it is.

And it is really nice. Unfortunately, everything in town/by the Tyne isn’t so nice. For example, the plastic bottle reservoir isn’t very pretty.

Transformers

Earlier this evening, I detected a transformer just round the corner to Birmingham New Street station. I’m sure it was seconds away from bursting into another shape.

Think about it.

Brum

I’m having a pre-train pint of Maisel’s Weisse in the Wellington, in Birmingham. I now realise why I’ve had a dÃ©jÃ vu kind of day, thinking I’d been in Brum recently, but knowing I hadn’t. Until I came in here. Then I remembered a meeting around the end of last year. I ended up in here with a bloke from my team and had several pre-train pints. I think I slept the whole way home, which is unusual for me.

Anyway, I can recommend both the pub and the beer. Time for a second I think.

Leaks

Yesterday, my second in command and I had appointments with our dentist in Sunderland. On parking at St Mary’s, we noted a low cost approach to tackling multiple roof leaks.

After dental work was completed, we rewarded ourselves with a now customary pint in the Isis.

Steps

I’d almost forgotten about this picture from last weekend, taken in Ouseburn. We’d walked the same route many times previously, but somehow hadn’t noticed these rather splendid steps near the Cluny. Obviously, one needed to investigate, but sadly they lead only to a grassy hill and some modern flats. They’re not the usual sandstone, and they haven’t been worn by years of hobnail boots, so they don’t seem to have been industrial.

I’d like to think they used to lead to an impressive house. However, I’m probably way off the mark and it’ll have been a workhouse or asylum.

Or something even less interesting.

Seaside

We went for a drive up the coast today – because my second in command wanted to try Daisy II on the A1. We’d aimed for Seahouses, but stopped off at Bamburgh too since it was just along the road.

It brought back memories of Ronnie Maddison’s shoes. Which lie buried somewhere in the sand dunes at Bamburgh (I was ten years old and I didn’t do it).

Sheriffhill

From a hill in Gateshead